-
Video for sporting event
-
I’m with Todd on this – when a lawsuit does happen, the lawyers go after the party with the most potential money to lose. If I were the lawyer, and the choice were between an average citizen and a post-production company, who do you think I would go after?
I worked for a small cable TV production company many years ago – we had licensed an acoustic guitar piece from a local musician to use for a show open. Licensed, mind you – in writing. He decided sometime later that the cut was worth much more, and sued us for a hundred thousand dollars. We won in court, but the legal fees we had to pay to win were very large. You never know where it’s going to come from, so dot all your i’s and cross your t’s when it comes to licensing. Sometimes even licensed stuff will have repercussions…
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
fair enough, but again… is the editor liable for obtaining releases from the talent? In essence it’s the same thing, just on the visual end, not audio end.
This is really for argument’s sake. The reality is one can get sued for pretty much anything these days… but that’s a rant for another day.
And for the record, I’m an ex-musician. So i’m VERY against stealing music in anyway, shape or form.
Scott Cumbo
Lead Editor
Bellator MMA/Spike TV -
So the team contacted the record label with the song they want to use and the head of the organization for their sport. In short the label said, they cannot provide anything in writing as to give permission to use the song. We would need to talk to the person in copyright for that. But then they go on to say to the fact that if no money is being made they really don’t have a problem. But if there is money made they want their percentage. What I don’t like is them saying we can’t give anything in writing. And yeah it’s only going to be used for the team on the jumbo tron’s. Just wanted to keep you all updated.
-
It all depends – is the Editor also the owner of the production house, or is he an employee of it? It’s all a slippery slope, and the less prepared anyone is for the possibility of a lawsuit, the better the odds are that it will happen.
Generally, the producer or videographer is responsible for obtaining releases from the talent, but that varies widely, depending on who’s running the shoot. As long as the releases are on file, it doesn’t much matter who gets them. The same with music releases – just get the license, or buy copyright free library music – then there’s no need to worry about it.
I would think that someone bent on suing another party for copyright infringement will go after anyone they feel the need to. The excuse that “I was told to use the music by the ____.” doesn’t much work. It’s the oldest excuse in the book. Look how it worked out for Adolf Eichmann, when he said “I was just following orders”.
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
Chuck –
I think that you’d better run away from this one fast! That’s a perfect setup for a lawsuit – nothing in writing – but it’s “ok” to use it if you’re not making any money. Well, just the fact that it’s appearing on a Jumbotron in a venue where people pay to get in would assume there’s some money changing hands.
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
Joe,
I agree 100%. I’m going to do what I can to get the client to just use royalty free music for the video. I don’t want to take the word of some random person from a record label.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up